Hipsters have been getting a rough time lately. Skin tight jeans and 70's porn 'staches aside, there is one criticism that is dead wrong. The indie rocker is funky. Where hip hop is dangerously careening closer to pop music, indie rock has been digging deep in its vinyl carrying milk crates, excavating the nuggets of the past and lighting torches to lead us away from the dull, stagnant and the flat footed.
Today's music excavators are the New York collective !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) who bring the live funk, punk, disco and dub like no one since these sounds congealed in the early 1980's. Releasing three albums and, like all dance outfits should, extended vinyl singles through the 2000's, !!! have honed a serious dance sound that rubs off gritty rather than slick or overproduced. Whereas most live performances of dance music can be limp and aloof, this band gets down on the audience's level and doesn't stop moving until the last encore.
!!!'s new album on Warp, Strange Weather, Isn't It?, is their first sign of a new recording in three years and the first single, AM/FM, is a welcome homecoming. The joy is evident and palpable, like the recording was a jailhouse release. All of the elements are back in play: disco congos, jittery post-punk guitar stabs and bouncing bass all hit you the hips while the comely voices of male lead and female backing vocals lure you in like sirens to the rocks. Download and get to stepping. The rest will be awaiting you August 24.
Call it techno. Call it club music. Call them dance tracks. There are many generic terms for the masses to tag the music of the crossover electronic artist. These lucky souls have successfully bridged the divide from their music having limited mass exposure in late night venues to alternative radio play, music video popularity, hired remix duty and, most lucrative of all, licensing to commercials and feature films. If they are truly deserving, they can stand at the top of the heap while retaining their club credibility (God bless you, Daft Punk) or, sadly, releasing unadventurous product while hoping for the public to latch onto their attempts to return to glory (I am looking at you, Moby).
For some time, The Chemical Brothers were taking that path into slowly fading obscurity, putting out uneven albums, selling their music to the first available beer maker and basically grinding their once successful formula into dust. Since no one was interested in listening to the past in electronica's ever revolving door of ready now music, Tom and Ed made the decision to embrace other influences and reinvent their sound for the fan of today.
Their new album Further is to be released June 22 on Astralwerks. The sounds of the 90's Chemical Brothers has been cherry picked or altogether flushed. Most notably, there is an absence of their signature big-name guest vocalists. Although a guarantee in record sales, it was a necessary loss for The Chemical Brothers to grow. The new influences are from the past and present here, drawing from sources such as brightly lit chamber-pop, gauzy shoegaze, arms-length ambient, and blownout electroclash. Although the album has eight tracks, the songs run overlap with only the stylistic change alerting the listener to the new track. After the joyous bleeps open up "Snow" with the thankful chorus: "Your love keeps lifting me higher", the highlight track of Further "Escape Velocity" begins sounding like the opening of a BBC documentary from the 1970's. Then beat kicks in, and it all hands in the air for about 10 minutes. My earlier review of this song had me thinking about "a remix of Boards of Canada by Underworld in their prime". Although its roots are firmly in The Chemical Brothers Big Beat past, the song is fresh, fun and undeniable.
Although the album's payoff comes early, Further still reveals nuggets of electronica gold. Muffled beats and vocals burst and twinkle on "Another World". Disco bass reign supreme on "Swoon". "Dissolve" sounds like a forgotten but worthy holdover from their classic LP Dig Your Own Hole. Even Further's most derivative track "Horse Power", with its horse whinny samples and stomping drumbeat, has its hokey charm. Where we were used to a collection of good to great songs on the best Chemical Brothers LP's, Further plays like a proper full length with crests and valleys that carries the listener to the very end.
The excitability of the English music press is well established. If a new band vaguely has hit the airwaves with a new song, publishers such as NME or Q are ready to ignore restrained hyperbole and wildly declare them the new Oasis or start connecting the dots to John, Paul, George and/or Ringo. Oxford five-piece Foals made some indie waves with their breathy 2008 debut Antidotes. It was well received here in the US, perhaps even more than England. However, their new album has struck a chord across the pond and you can't take a tube ride without seeing massive advertising about their release. The reviews in NME, The Guardian and the BBC proudly followed suit.
I guess I cannot blame the English for support their rock music to the point of excess. British bands are well-established in making their catchy brand of pop. It comes so easily and often that it leaves American bands in the dust to the point that it is a source of national pride. Even the band themselves called their new album's sound like the "dream of an eagle dying". Cringe.
So, the real question is "Is Foals new album Total Life Forever good? Great? Beatlesque?". Quick answers are: Yes, Depends, Stop it. Released in America on the ever broadening label Sub Pop, Foals have taken their upbeat, breezy and reinforced it with a muscular funky dub bassline, jazzy drums and thickly accented vocals that emphasize the lyrical force. There is an excellent retro feel to this album, reminding the listener of the best of the British New Wave of the 80's. Standouts tracks include the new single Spanish Sahara, powerful opener Blue Blood and the smooth sounds of tracks Black Gold and 2 Trees.
Since I could not narrow it down for one post, I choose not to choose and decided to chat about the latest and upcoming releases on Subpop. These three bands are disparate to say the least, so give them all a listen and see what you strikes your eardrum.
London based Male Bonding has a lo-fi garage sound that is not short on energy. The trio burns through this album in a half hour and fills it full of catchy sounds and introspective lyrics. Year's Not Long is the type of high impact track that brings the kids to the live shows to jump around and sing along. The new album Nothing Hurts is out now. Fans of Japandroids or Guided By Voices will be most pleased.
Blitzen Trapper is out of Portland, Oregon with a sound that induces the Pacific Northwest. Their sound has a woodsy warmth built with the sturdy sensibility of a log cabin. With footholds in 70's AM-rock and indie folk, they straddle the fence between delicate beauty and emotive strength. Their fifth album Destroyer Of The Void will be out June 8. People who dig Fleet Foxes or Mumford and Sons will enjoy this as well.
A well established member of the Montreal indie scene, Wolf Parade released one of the best albums of the past decade in Apologies To The Queen Mary. Their quirky play between guitar and keys builds tension while never sounding derivative. Their third album Expo 86 is due for release on June 29. Chances are if you already listen to other Montreal natives New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene, this is already on your radar. If not, give it a spin.
Electronica musician Matthew Dear keeps himself busy making music under his pseudonyms Audion, Jabberjaw and False. Beyond his remixing duties, he has not released a new album as Matthew Dear since 2007's excellent Asa Breed. The waiting is over. The new album, entitled Black City will be out August 17 on his own label Ghostly International.
The new track entitled I Can't Feel has a chilled beat, stuttering bass and his trademark monotone. As opposed to his minimal/microhouse style he sports under his alter egos, Dear can explore a more organic sound under his true name. The track has elements of Remain In Light era Talking Heads in terms of its neo-African influences and awkward paranoia. Check it out below with an old track and video from Asa Breed.
Hipsters have been getting a rough time lately. Skin tight jeans and 70's porn 'staches aside, there is one criticism that is dead wrong. The indie rocker is funky. Where hip hop is dangerously careening closer to pop music, indie rock has been digging deep in its vinyl carrying milk crates, excavating the nuggets of the past and lighting torches to lead us away from the dull, stagnant and the flat footed.
